In conventional wireless mobile devices, inter-radio access technology (inter-RAT) compressed mode handover from one mode to another mode (such as from Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) to Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), for example) is accomplished using a separate receiver for each mode. This is due to the inherently uncommon architectures of the receivers. For example, a WCDMA receiver is typically constrained by RF performance to adopt an inter-stage SAW filter, while GSM/Enhanced Data for GSM Evolution (GSM/EDGE) receivers do not have this constraint. However, the use of two receivers for performing the handover operation carries redundancies that result in larger die area and expense. Therefore, there is a need in the art for an improved method of performing a compressed mode handover between multiple modes.